Rail-handling tool



March 28, 1950 1 CHICOINE 2,502,246

RAIL-HANDLING TOOL Filed Aug. 20, 1945 5 Sheets- Sheet 1 swam 00" Q/oM/i a S9 ice/(NW March 28, 1950 P. CHICOINE RAIL-HANDLING TOOL Filed Aug. 20, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patente'd Mar. 28-, 1950' Eouis I". Chic'oine; Dorion-Vaudreuil, Queb'eo, Canada Application August 20, 1945 Serial No. 611,584

1i Claim. .(Cl. 29415) struetion of" rail unloading" fork having ran en portions (it accurately designed shapes for reatly improving: the eflieiency or handlin rails. (one of the objects or my invention: is: to pro-- vide a construction or rail-handling tool hav'-= J 1122 preformed rail engaging portions which are shaped to so engage either the T-rail heador lieadfree rail head to'faeilitate the automatic re- I lease of the fail as the rail passes the point of beianee in air unloading operation.

' Another object of my invention is to provide a construction. 01! r'ail unloading fork in which recesses" in the end of the fork are shaped on preformedcurves, one of which terminates in an anvil face and the other of which is distorted oil-center in. su'clr a manner as to coaict withthe head of a'T-rail or the head-free rail head, to facilitate the gripping and automatic releaseot the ran as the rail passes the point or balance ni an unioading operation.

Still another object of my invention is an improved construction or. shaped: head andstraight handle bar extending therefrom for facilitatingthe grippingl of arail in a; manner which allovvs the: handle bar to lift slightly before engaging the ed A. still further object of my invention resides in; a construction of railehandle tool; having a shaped rail engaging end and a handle bar extentli-ng in a substantially straight linetherefrom and terminating in an enlarged knob on the end thereof for preventing the dangerous practice of insertin the handle or} th rail ion:- in the bo t 7 holes of. a rail and; also. improving the" handle gripiipon-therail'.

' other and further objeets of my invention reside in an: improved constructionof rail-handlin fork asset forth more fully in the specification hereinafter following-1 by reference to the accompouring drawings in which Figure 1 is: a perspecti've view' of a fragmentaryportion of the rail engaging. end of the'rail-liandling fork: Fig. 2

is a side eievationai view of the rail-"handlingfork of my invention with the straight handleti'iereor broken away and foreshorte'ned; Fig. 3 is a". bottom plan view of the rail engaging end of the rail-handling fork: Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the raii engaging'end of the rail unload- 2. ing fork; Fig 5' is an enlarged end view of the end of the rail: engaging fork; Fig, 6 is alongitu dinal sectional view through the end of the railengaging tone on line 6'-6 of Fig. 4; Fig. '1, is; a cross sectional view illustrating the railhandling tool of my invention; in a position about to engage the rail head. of a rail; Fig: 8 is a cross sectional view of the end; of the-rail -handling tool shown in a position gripping the: flange of the rail base of the rail during an unloading operation;

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional. view of the end of the rail-handling tool of my invention shown in position engaging the Web of a rail during an unload-- ing operation; Fig. 10 is a longitudinal sectional View taken on line 10-4-0 of Fig; 9 and Fig. 11 is an enlarged side elevational view of the rail engaging end of a rail-handling fork and illustrating the relative shapes of the curves in the jaws thereof and the dimensions thereof for handlinga' standard rail of; either T-head. or head free type; and Fig. 12 shows the application or.

the tool of my invention to a head free rail. H

The rail-handlingtoolof my invention contains substantial features of improvement over the construction of the rail-handling tool of Letters- Patent 1,732,804 granted on October 2 2, 1929', to Louis P. Chicoine andElzear Sauve. In the tool. of my present invention, 1 have enlarged and redesigned the rail head. engagin end oftho tool.

to permit gripping and holding 100 lbs. RE headfree rail before being automatically released as it passes the point of balance. The reason for gripping is due to the lower face of jaw being altered to work in conjunction with. the upper face of theopening" which contacts the curved top of railhead at a point beyond its center and re tains its grip on the headfree railuntil it is automatioally released by gravity. This was not 116s"- si ble with the rail fork as originally designed, as set forth in Letters Patent 1,732,804 supra. Al'

though it worked satisfactorily with standard rail heads, it was absolutely necessary to make the changes as shown to insure release of the ran at the ro er point of dynamic balance during the handling operation. The enlargement of the rail head opening at the back was necessary to allow" rail head to roll out, this enlargementbeing required on accountof the special design of the headfreerail requiring the top jaw of fork to- 50 go further out beyond the center of rail head inorder to position the lower face of the jaw in true plane against the fillet of the rail head.

In the prior design of rail fork an aperture was provided having parallel sides for engaging the flange of the rail. In my improved fork, I have predetermined and provided a proper curve for this aperture of distorted form which is substantially off-center for facilitating the automatic disengaging of the flange of the rail as the rail passes the point of balance in the unloading operation. In my improved fork I provide an enlarged knob on the lever end of the fork for preventing the dangerous practice of attempting to insert the end of the handle of the old type fork in the bolt holes of the rail, inherently subject to slippage. The enlarged knob on the end of the lever also improves the hand-grip. The curved handle of the fork of Letters Patent 1,732,804 supra has been eliminated by changing the contact of the upper portion of the end aperture of the fork and the plane of the upper face to provide an anvil grip which allows the handle to lift slightly before engaging the rail head firmly.

Referring to the drawings in detail reference character I represents the straight handle of the rail-handling tool having an enlarged knob on the end thereof forming an obstruction against the insertion of the tool through the bolt holes in the Web of the rail. The rail engaging end of the tool is shaped in a very special manner and provides a composite series of gripping. portions which coact in facilitating the unloading operation of the rail. The gripping portions are represented at 2, 3 and 4. The gripping portion 2 is intended for engaging the rail head whereas the gripping portion 3 is designed for engaging the rail flange and the gripping portion 4 is designed for engaging the rail web.

The portion 2 designed for engaging the rail head has an anvil face 5 at one side thereof which is directed inwardly and has a curved face 6 directly opposite thereof which is shaped to engage the tread surface of the rail head. The radius of curvature of the face 6 extends as indicated in Fig. 11 substantially beyond the anvil face 5 and in substantially transverse alignment therewith. The curved face 6 is connected with the anvil face 5 through a composite coextensive series of surfaces which I have represented at l as having a radius approximately one-fifth the radius of curvature of the face 6 connected through the surface 8 disposed at substantially 45 degrees to a transverse axis through the end of the tool and connected with a surface 9 approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tool but offset through the anvil face 5 in a direction away from the curved surface 6. This composite preformed shape of the tool engaging end 2 facilitates the gripping and holding of the rail head If! as represented in Fig. '7 but being automatically released as the rail passes the point of balance in an unloading operation. It will be observed that the curved face 6 is shaped to substantially conform with the tread surface of the rail head it while the anvil face 5' engages the rail head i!) at a point beyond the head represented generally at l l in Fig. 7. When the rail, in the handling operation, passes the point of balance the rail is automatically released from the handling tool. When applying the tool to the flange portion 12 of the rail, the recess 3 of the tool is utilized. The recess 3 is formed by a connected series of curves which are distorted in a direction towards the longitudinal axis of the handle I of the tool. The sides of the aperture 3 are not parallel but are continuously curved, the curves commencing at opposite ends of the recess in rounded surfaces represented at M and I5 of equal radii and being connected intermediate thereto by a surface l6 formed on a radius centered at I! within one of the curved ends of the recess and a curved surface l8 formed on a radius centered at 19 in the last mentioned curved surface IS. The curved surfaces It and ill are then interconnected by a curved surface 20 formed on a center 2i which is off-center with respect to the recess 3. Thus a rail flange engaged in recess 3 may be gripped when the fork is in the initial unloading position but the rail automatically disengaging as the rail passes the point of balance in the unloading operation.

When the fork of my invention is used in the position illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10 for engaging the web 22 of the rail, the bifurcated portion 4 of the tool is utilized. The bifurcated portion l includes a pair of coacting jaws 23 and 24 having curved or tapered external surfaces 23a and Zia which are angularly disposed with respect to the inner parallel faces 23b and 24b of the jaws 23 and 24. The bifurcated portion 4 of the end of the tool extends to the position represented at 25 allowing a substantial grip to be obtained on the flange 22 of the rail in handling the rail as represented in Figs. 9 and 10. Thus the improved rail-handling tool of my invention may be utilized effectively in any one of three positions for handling rails with a high degree of precision and enablingrelease of the rails as the point of balance is passed. While I have described the tool of my invention in its preferred embodiment, I realize that modifications may be made and I intend no limitations,

upon my invention other than may be imposed by the scope of the appended claim.

In order to emphasize the applicability of the rail fork of my invention to both a T-head rail and a head free rail, I have illustrated in Fig.

12 the manner ofapplying the rail fork to a' head free rail. It will be observed that inthe case of a head free rail the underside 25 of the rail head is cut away and this metal added.

to the top of the head to increase the running top tread of the rail head. The anvil face 5 of the tool abuts against and forms a lifting 5 A rail-handling tool comprising a substantially straight handle terminating ina rail engaging head having a multiplicity of coacting open jaws one of said jaws being constituted by internally extending curves wherein one of said curves substantially conforms with the curved tread of a" rail, and in which'an opposed anvil face oper-" ates to. grip the under face ofthe head of the rail, the rear of said jaw being bifurcated and terminating in spaced projecting lugs operating to grip opposite sides of the web of the rail, the

slide of the jaw adjacent said opposed anv-ilface being recessed and formed by an internally extending curved face displaced off center and di- 5 6 rected toward the longitudinal axis of said handle REFERENCES CITED on an axis substantially normal to the axis of The following references are of record in the said first mentioned jaw and terminating in a file of this patent: position substantially displaced away from the longitudinal axis of said handle and on the side 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS thereof adjacent said opposed anvil face for pro- N b Name Date viding means for gripping the flange of rail and 124,749 Koontz Mar. 19, 1872 effecting the release thereof as the rail is moved 1,131,051 Gagnon Mar. 9, 1915 to a position passing through the point of bal- 1,177,560 Wilson Mar. 28, 1916 ance in an unloading operation. 10 1,285,926 Bussler Nov. 26, 1918 LOUIS P. CH CO N 1,732,804 Chicoine et a1. Oct. 22, 1929 

